Local authorities oppose state crime lab closures

A state and federal coalition of law enforcement officials and prosecutors - including Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian Mackie - is urging Gov. Jennifer Granholm not to approve the budget-driven closures of two Michigan State Police crime laboratories.

Crime lab details

The Michigan State Police Forensic Science division is made up of seven laboratories and 10 additional locations that provide polygraph testing services.

The group sent Granholm an emergency letter Wednesday afternoon, opposing the budget bill that calls for closing crime labs in Marquette and Sterling Heights and laying off six of the 25 personnel at the offices.

Local law enforcement agencies rely on the crime lab in Northville, but officials say it already has backlogs that could worsen if the two labs are closed.

Mackie, the state prosecutors' representative on the executive board of the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, said former Gov. John Engler also closed the Marquette crime lab - but was sued by all the prosecutors in the Upper Peninsula and was quickly forced to rescind the move.

Mackie said the state budget bill was believed to be on the governor's desk, but she could expect calls from officials who will argue that the closures won't save taxpayers money.

"It will just shift (the costs) to the counties," Mackie said.

Mackie said police officers in the UP will have to drive eight hours to a crime lab in Grayling with every piece of evidence, and forensic scientists from Grayling will need to travel eight hours in the other direction to testify.

"The lab does excellent work," Mackie said. "But the backlogs are too great now, and making them greater, making travel more difficult, will not aid the people we're supposed to serve."

Mackie said backlogs already force his prosecutors to seek court adjournments or hold off on filing charges against suspects.

Washtenaw County Sheriff Dan Minzey said Wednesday that technological advances have made the crime lab's services more important than ever. He said agencies have been asking the state for more resources for the lab.

"The biggest part is DNA. But in order to have that, we need the technicians who can process that stuff for your court case," Minzey said. "It's scary to think cases are going to be delayed further. Why did they pick the labs? ... Pick something that doesn't impact all of our cases. This is something we just can't do on a local level."

"If we have a suspect out there, we might be six months away from determining who this person is" because of the backlog of cases at the lab, O'Dell said.

And as police wait for evidence to be analyzed at the lab, that person could be committing more crimes, O'Dell said. "If we have a result back, we could have gone for a warrant and made an arrest," he said.

Ypsilanti Police Chief Matt Harshberger said his agency already waits one to three months for analysis of suspected cocaine and a minimum of three to four months for DNA.

Harshberger said it's good the state was able to avoid trooper layoffs and post closures, but called the lab downsizing a tough hit.